Faith

People help me when I need help.

Of course, it’s helpful to ask for it.

Not everyone will know you need

help.

Not to chase after it

but if you need something

like this writing

to calm down

then do it

and let the unsure,

scary feelings pass

out of you.

They will go.

Just because there’s a little

pressure that is new

is not a reason to

cash in all your chips

and go home.

Keep going in the

direction you’re going in.

There’s no reason to

give up making

‘conscious’ forward

progress.

 

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Be

Let me be.

If I just was

there would be nowhere

to go.

No one to see

just me & my inner self

the thoughts and feelings

that come up

when you just stop.

Being.

It is very powerful.

All by itself.

It contains the potential

to show you what moving

at 100 mph is missed.

We go after

when we already have.

Let me be awhile

and I will reboot back

to a normal human

being.

 

Anchor

Stop.  Long enough to

look around.

Stop.  Look within.

Feel.

Slow the parade of mind

numbing trivia that

assault your brain cells

endlessly.

Meditate.

Walk in the woods.

Take time.  For you.

If you don’t, no one else

will or can.

It’s an in-house project.

You can’t farm this

one out to the therapists.

We all are our own souls’

tenderers.

 

Habit

Close up view of fall colored aspen trees. San Juan Mountains. Uncompahgre National Forest, Colorado

Ever tried to let go of a

“bad” habit?  A habit you

didn’t want anymore?

It’s hard.  Hard to pull away

from that comfortable sense

of sameness you seem to crave.

It seems to nurture your soul

in a deranged sort of way.

Not that it’s all bad.  It’s

just the same, day after day.

Your interests are circumscribed.

The world beyond your box

is not touched, ‘off limits’

to your awareness.

Whatever’s out there, you

don’t know about, have no

idea what’s possibly awaiting

your venue.

A.A. says one day at a time.  I

guess it’s the same with

all things unwelcomed in

overly attached dependencies.

You have to start.  Start

filling your hours with

what you want.  Not what

you have.

 

Photography © Dennis Frates Photography  http://www.fratesphoto.com/

 

 

 

 

 

Endings

Another day

another week

another (school) year

finished.

I wonder how I find

the energy to do what

I do each day.

It’s a lot.

I get inspired from

project to project

not really following

a script.

Looking back

I did a lot of

good things for

myself & others

which I hardly take

time to reflect upon

& give myself credit

for.

Pink Lady Hellebore flower in fall grasses. Al’s Nursery. Woodburn, Oregon

Photography © Dennis Frates Photography  http://www.fratesphoto.com/

 

 

 

Back into Joy

My life keeps getting better

every day.

Ther are ups and downs but

overall the graph is headed

up.

No such thing as smooth

sailing without a perceived

“down”.  A stumble, an

injury or accident–minor

as they are, they are.

No life is absolutely free of

all pain.  But it passes–

rather quickly–even though

it may not seem so

while immersed in it.

I do not tolerate things

not seeming to be

working out.  I stop

and say, where can

I change, tweak this

experience back on to

the road of joy or fun?

I really don’t want to

be doing it…so let’s

change it until it

is again.

Then we will all be

happy for our ‘extra’

effort to move out

of where we don’t want

to be and back into

joy & fun.

Evening

At the end of the day

begins night.

Night signals a slow-

ing for some

a coming home,

settling in,

going to what you

most love to do.

The energy of the

day is mostly spent.

You’re rich with

experiences

money couldn’t

buy.

Just maintaining

the need of a moment,

you welcome the new

and incorporate it

into your routine

of the familiar.

Slide on into bed

soon.

So enjoy the hours

less keyed up

than the rest

of the day.

They’re for your

pleasure &

enjoyment.

Time

I stepped into the time machine.

I walked through the door

into another dimension.

I was not my usual (alone) self.

I was with others.

Others who cared or not

but others,

like-minded

and open to

progressing the field along

as far as it wanted to go.

Some listened, maybe all.

Some were understanding,

possibly.

The machine was ‘out of

normal reality’.

We rose to a higher level.

Nothing lower could be.

All on-the-roof discussion.

Seeing and reaching for

the stars.

Being a star.

Shooting past the

ones below

wondering what we

were about.

Time was suspended,

it seemed.

Then it returned as

I stepped out the door

back to where I came from.

Close up of Osteosperum margarita Pink Flare.

Photography © Dennis Frates Photography  http://www.fratesphoto.com/

Getting Started

Inertia is a god.

It is so powerful.

Priming the pump

& then slowing

or stopping the

flow is an effort.

When we’re not

naturally tired

& enjoying activity,

who wants to stop?

To try to get going

from a dead stop

takes inspiration,

will-power,

strength

and positivity.

We don’t just

wish where

we want to go

or be.  Effort

is required to

go ahead toward

anything we

want.

It may seem

effortless at times

yet when it doesn’t,

we have to go

anyway if we’re

going to get

anywhere.

Silencing Sound

Some spots on

Earth

are more quiet

than others

even just a

mile apart.

You just

want

to soak

in the silence

let it envelop

your being

and just be.

You put yourself

back together

in moments

such as those.

Draw in your

forces

at rest.

Listen for the

peace.

Even the animals

appreciate it.